Unit 58. Oh, Really?
Continuing or Finishing Tones
Unit 58; Part A
Important for listening! When we are telling someone a piece of news, we often check thatthey know the background to the story first. When we do this, the voicegoes up at the end. Then, when we finally tell the news, the voice goesdown at the end. This shows that we have finished the story. Listen and compare A's first question in these two conversations. In 1,he is checking that В knows about Max's grandfather's death, so thevoice goes up. In 2, he is telling В the news that Max's grandfatherdied, so the voice goes down. 1 A: You know Max's grandfather died? ↑ B: Yes. ↑ A: Well, he's left all his money to charity. ↓ 2 A: You know Max's grandfather died? ↓ B: Oh. ↓ A: Yeah, terrible, isn't it? ↓ |
Unit 58; Part B
Important for listening!
Listeners also signal if they expect the story to continue or not.In conversation 1 above, B's voice goes up at the end when she says Yes, This shows that she expects A to continue. In conversation 2, B's voice goes down at the end when she says Oh. This shows that she knows A has finished telling her the news. There are more examples in the conversation below. Listen. | |
Note:In B's last line, her voice goes down, but it starts from very high.This shows that she did not expect this news; she is surprised. |
Unit 58; Part C
Important for listening! If we are saying a list of things, our voice goes down at the end ofthe last thing to show we have finished. On the other things, the voicegoes up to show the list is not finished. Listen to the continuation ofthe conversation from В above, and notice A's pronunciation of the listof things stolen. B: Did they steal anything? A: Yes, they took his computer, television, video, CD player and all his CDs. B: Oh, that's terrible! |
Exercises
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